Surely Davy
Crockett, Sam Houston and Jim Bowie are rolling over in their graves.

It is hard to believe that these patriots in the fight for a free and
independent Texas would ever have foreseen that a legislature full of
supposed conservatives would vote to permit warrantless searches of the
homes of those folks who might sell a few puppies at the end of their
driveway. That, however, is exactly what took place yesterday as Texas�
House of Representatives voted 98-43 in favor of a bill alleged to be
targeting so called puppy mills. Click here to see who voted to take your
rights away and to see those that stood up to protect them.

Puppy
mill is a media term coined by animal rights groups to bring attention to
substandard conditions in some large scale, commercial dog breeding
facilities. The dog owners that I know, along with hunters, all believe that
these places should be operated humanely. But as is often the case with
legislation drafted by the animal rights lobby, the net has been cast much
wider than large-scale commercial facilities.

That�s why the U.S.
Sportsmen�s Alliance, the American Kennel Club, the Texas Wildlife
Association, and many other national and local sportsmen�s and dog groups
are opposing the bill.

House Bill 1451 classifies you as a commercial
breeder if you maintain eleven female dogs that have not been spayed, and
you sell dogs. Now, to a lot of urban folks having eleven dogs may seem like
a lot. But to a sporting dog kennel owner who uses the animals to chase
foxes or flush quail, it is not a lot. And if one of these owners sells even
just two puppies, then that person opens his house to being searched by the
government without cause. Without even so much as a warrant.

No
warrant. I guess you can now add the founding fathers to the list of those
rolling in their graves.

But that is indeed the case with this bill.
The fellow who puts by his driveway to sell a litter of puppies is
considered a commercial breeder. The woman who takes out an ad in her local
newspaper to sell a few extra Labrador retrievers is to be treated as if she
were operating a puppy producing factory. No one has ever made a case that
hobby breeders and sporting dog kennels are operating inhumane facilities.

This bill is like treating a mom and pop ice cream stand the same as a
factory. License fees will be higher. Record keeping requirements must be
maintained and must be available to the government at any time. Kennel
construction and maintenance will be tightly regulated by the government.
The bill sets up a new unelected board that is allowed to add any
requirements, fees and restrictions that it deems necessary. All of these
things will run the cost of maintaining a hobby kennel through the roof, and
ultimately out of business.

Currently many sporting dog kennels and
hobby breeders maintain the records for their dogs on their home computer.
Because, as I keep driving home the point, they are not a large commercial
industry. This bill gives inspectors authority to search the premises where
records are kept without probable cause or a warrant. A suspected drug
dealer does not have to worry about the government storming his house
without cause, but a dog breeder does? That is simply amazing.

And
what is even more amazing? Is that this is taking place in Texas. Not
California. Not New York. But in the Republic of Texas. The future home of
one of the most restrictive dog kennel requirements in the United States.

House Bill 1451 is now in the Texas Senate. Here�s hoping that the
elected officials here will remember their predecessors and make sure that
this bill is written fairly, and properly targets the commercial operators
it claims to be pursuing. Failing that, this bill should be defeated.